NOT GUILTY? THEN WHO IS TO BLAME?

I SHARE THIS THOUGHT FROM JULY 14th - AFTER THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE GEORGE ZIMMERMAN VERDICT:

The justice system has spoken. As a citizen, I am obligated to accept the verdict. But, there is a deep sense of sadness in my heart this morning and our country should be alarmed by what has and will transpire as a result of this trial. My thoughts are these: Our justice system is the best that we have, but it is flawed. I won’t begin to break down the case because I did not watch the trial, but my premise is very simple: this event involved two people. Despite all the evidence, the simple fact is we heard only one side of the story. We do not and can never know what really happened and, I suppose, reasonable doubt is a logical conclusion. However, it does not erase the fact that a great tragedy occurred where an unarmed seventeen-year-old boy was shot dead by a man who initiated the encounter by following him with suspicion. Somehow, this has become a political hotbed of liberals vs. conservatives. But, no matter the outcome, we have all lost. Black children and men alike will continue to be forced to exist in this country with constant fear of suspicion. Stand-your-ground laws will encourage more George Zimmermans. Our justice system will be mired in cases where guilt or innocence will be trumped by unknowable intention. Sooner or later, a victim won't be a kid in a far away state, but it could very well be someone we know and love. Who are the real villains here? It’s the state legislatures, such as Florida, who believe it is proper to pass laws where murder becomes an acceptable alternative. And through the political battles to come, many – on both sides – will forget what really happened here - the tragic loss of a teenager who, except for another man’s actions, was simply walking home from the store.

PERSONAL RELIEF BUT ....

TODAY, I SHARE A POST I MADE ON FACEBOOK ON AUGUST 19th:

Today, I am greatly relieved. My daughter was rehired by the School District of Philadelphia. Also, in this coming school year, she will be moving to her desired position of a string music specialist. I love her and wish her well for an exciting and rewarding school year! But, I also have to share my disdain and disgust with the school district, city government, and state government. The stress and unknown has taken a significant toll - not only on my daughter - but on the thousands who were laid off, the thousands of students and parents not knowing whether school would open and what kind of education they would receive, and the millions of Philadelphians who will suffer great cultural and economic strife if the public schools go down the drain. THE SCHOOLS AND THE EDUCATION OF OUR YOUTH ARE NOT POLITICAL FOOTBALLS. The sooner we as a nation understand the importance of education FOR ALL and how it affects us ALL, the more belief and confidence in the American Dream will result.

OF THE 1%, BY THE 1% AND FOR THE 1%

Conservatives have sworn allegiance to trickle-down economics since Reagan.  In theory, tax breaks and other economic benefits to businesses and the wealthy will benefit poorer members of society by improving the economy as a whole.  So, how has that been working for you?  Let’s use the consummate example of American business - Walmart – to judge our progress.  Here’s a company that boasts its prices will beat anybody and you will never know the difference between a steak prepared in a five-star steakhouse and the Walmart steak you eat at home.  Their fruit is all local and juicy and “the best I’ve ever tasted.”  They portray a young black man as a stock boy who is exuberant to be “working his way up” on the Walmart team!  It is a company worth more than 500 billion dollars – the American success story!  OK, TRICKLE DOWN – DO YOUR MAGIC!  Well, here is the drought reality:

The wealth of the Walton family – heirs to the Walmart fortune - is as large as FORTY-TWO PER CENT OF ALL OTHER AMERICAN FAMILIES COMBINED!  Yet, the company still receives an estimated 2 billion dollars of tax breaks, free land, infrastructure assistance and grants from the American taxpayers every year.  Walmart consistently finagles working hours so “associates” do not qualify for benefits (and before you blame Obamacare, this has been a consistent practice for more than a decade).  The AVERAGE salary for a Walmart employee is less than $240 per week without benefits.  Most make a measly $6 per hour with less than 28 hours of work per week allotted.  This pay scale places employees with families below the poverty line with the MAJORITY of Walmart employees' children qualifying for free lunch at school as a result.  When closely examined, this amounts to a form of double-dipping corporate welfare, as the taxpayer subsidize not only the company, but the low salaries of its employees as well!  In some stores, 80% of the employees are forced onto public assistance because they don’t make a living wage.

SO, WHERE IS THE TRICKLE DOWN?  Well, many will say the low prices enjoyed by the many who shop at Walmart stores is helping the overall economy despite the fact that its own employees don’t earn enough to shop without public assistance.  You have to look at the whole picture.  So, let’s do that: Despite a well-publicized "Made in the U.S.A." campaign, 85 percent of the stores' items are made overseas, often in Third World sweatshops (remember Bangladesh?). By taking its orders abroad, Wal-Mart has forced many US manufacturers out of business.  Plus, Walmart’s practice of saturating the marketplace and clearing out the retail competition has been remarkably successful, thus closing countless stores of its competitors and leaving them sitting empty.  Is this helping the economy or simply lining the purses of the Walton family?

OK – enough about Walmart – maybe they are just a “bad apple”.  The fact is many conservatives revere the people at the top-of-the-food-chain as morally better and more deserving because their hard work has paid off.  I’ll say it’s paid off – but at whose expense?  The top 1% earns 25% of this country’s income every year.  The top 1% now controls more than 40% of America’s total wealth.  Over the past decade, the income of the top 1% has increased more than 18% while those in the middle and poorer classes have seen their incomes fall.  And, with all of this concentrated wealth combined with the legislative and judicial buying-power it affords (like Citizens United), the concept of a better economy for all from trickle-down effects is laughable.  In reality, we are the land of economic EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF and, more and more, only a very select few have a voice.  Yes, we are becoming a country of the 1%, by the 1% and for the 1%.